An 85-year-old woman has died after being robbed and assaulted in Greenford, west London.

Police were called at about 13:50 GMT on Monday to an alleyway off Oldfield Lane where the woman was found injured.

London Ambulance Service said it was called before 14:00 GMT to reports of an assault.

The victim was taken to hospital but her condition deteriorated and she died at 02:14 on Tuesday, police said.

'Potentially busy area'

Officers carrying out a search of the area recovered her handbag on Farm Dale Crescent.

They said they believed two men approached her from behind, snatched the bag, assaulted the victim and caused her to fall to the pavement.

Det Chief Insp Russell Taylor, of the Met's Homicide Serious Crime Command, said he was keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the sequence of events in what was a potentially busy area in daylight hours.

Earlier Sharon Dolphin, manager of the nearby Age Concern day centre in Northolt, said members would be told to be on their guard.

She said the news was devastating.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place on Wednesday at Uxbridge Mortuary.

The victim has not yet been formally identified by police.

The suspects, described as black and dressed in dark clothing, are believed to have run in the direction of Farm Dale Crescent.